Germany was utterly economically destroyed after WWI, with hyperinflation and everything that entails.

To be clear: hyperinflation comes from printing too much currency, not simply from economic catastrophe. Reparations made that attractive, but it was also an explicit policy of the Weimar Republic to keep unemployment low, and thus currency was printed.

The US IS already stable and "secure" while Weimar was a cockpit in the battle between Communism and Nazism.

That is irrelavant. It is the subjective opinion of people that matters. Policy is determened not by reality but what people think is reality. Americans obviousl don't think America is "secure" because they crave ever more security programs, surveilance, harsher penalities etc.

We see this in crime, there has been a perception of increased crime levels even when crime levels fell a lot. Crime policy was modeled on this perception.

And as I have repeated on several occasions I don't see the US as a complete replay of the Weimar republic. We are talking about a number of shared characteristics and a number of things which are completely different. It was a different time and age. It will never be the same.

There was never any real chance Jesse Jackson was going to be President. What was remarkable was how diverse his support was.

Twenty years ago, a lot of things that have since happened might never have come to pass. And things that never did could well have transpired. My main reason to raise the reverend was to point out that, deep in the 90s, the idea of a black president was seen as more than just a pipe dream.

Again, over-reaching politicians acting largely without our knowledge or consent does not equal willful cooperation and certainly not us "craving" nor "demanding" something.

Especially when a politician specifically campaigns around the stance of personal privacy and government transparency but then flip-flops after an election or two to value personal transparency and government privacy.

There are scare parallells to todays America. People seem ready to give away freedom for security. There is an unhealthy reverence for the military which reminds me of the militarism of a bygone Germany. It is all about "support the troops". Those who object are labeled "Un-american", "unpatrotic", "communists" or whatever.

I agree with these points. I've been in America 6 years, and people, in general do not like people to critique the mighty USA's military, regardless of your reasoning. They get emotionally angry to the point where you can't have a rational discussion, and honestly I've felt people would be ready to physically attack me if I gave my entire unfiltered opinion.

Code Pink harassed the widow of a friend of mine at her husband's funeral. Never mind that he died in Afghanistan while they were protesting Iraq. If anyone deserved to be attacked for the way in which they express their opinion it's them. I had to cross their lines when I was an outpatient at Walter Reed too. Heck, we even have Westburo protesting at funerals here occasionally too.

Given that those people fail to provoke fights when they're actually trying, it's very doubtful that you would be attacked for giving your opinion. People might get angry and they might argue, but that's their right. You have the right to express your opinion, but others have the right to criticize you for it. Freedom of speech works both ways.

Good stuff. To my point, then, this stuff has been going on for years and so a poll that came out Monday does not at all mean that Congress has been acting based on decade-old demands around surveillance (unless there is a public opinion poll from back then as well, prior to PRISM, of course).

Weimar saw hyperinflation for it had no bond market. The Weimar government was a revolutionary government and no one was going to buy it's debt, so it printed. This is currently not the case with the United States. The US bond market is the largest in the world and if you want to park big money safely (billions, tens of billions, of dollars), you purchase US bonds. The US bond market has no competitors when it comes to parking large amounts of money safely. Being so large, it's very liquid as well. The Japanese have the second largest bond market, but it has too many restriction, the most important being that no one can issue debt in Japanese Yen, save for the Japan central bank. So long as US bonds have a very large demand, the US will not have hyperinflation like Weimar. Inflation yes, but not hyperinflation. Add to this how 40% of yearly debt payments go to overseas bond holders means that tens of billion do not make it into the US economy each year. The European bond market is a mess due to having no central debt (like the US and Japan). All member state debt is equal and European central banks must buy the debt of all constituent nations. Imagine (a an example) if the debt California, Illinois and Rhode Island was equal to US debt and must be purchased in proportion to US bonds, this would create a crisis for US bonds, as we see now with EU bonds. So the European bond market is no sanctuary for large amounts of cash.

Historically, core economies do not experience hyperinflation. The end game for them is extensive deflation as money is hoarded. Money is hoarded because the central political authorities go after wealth due to the growth in domestic debt. Bond holders come before the citizenry and the economy. It is that we are now beginning to see in the US. The US government is going after money in every way possible to make sure the bond holders are paid. The bond holders will not allow the US to print it's way out of debt obligations (the largest of which are rich and powerful nations, funds and individuals). Example, Warren Buffet holds large amounts of US debt and calls for higher taxes. Why? To make sure he safely receives his yearly interest payments. Those who buy bonds allow the game to continue, they will be protected (See: TBTF banks who are primary dealers, the are never prosecuted, they are "The Untouchables"). Crisis will come for the US at the first failed bond auction, but that won't happen until both Europe and Japan crash and burn. When the bond market fails for the US, you'll pray for hyperinflation.

Let me add that the largest short position in the world is against the US dollar. When that turns the value of the dollar will rise quickly. As conditions worsen in Europe and Japan, capital flows into the US will increase as foreign money buys US assets as a safe haven, that is happening now, witness the rise in the US stock market and US real estate. European money is flowing into US real estate to escape taxation in Europe. As US assets are bought, foreign currency must be sold to buy US dollars to purchase said assets. this will create demand for dollars which will then fuel it's rise. Over the past decade, vast amounts of foreign debt has been issued in US dollars due to low US interest rates, as the dollar rises the ability to pay those debts will become more and more difficult, starting a positive feed back loop. Then, rising rates in the US will add fuel to the fire. The dollar might reach all time new highs. The majority is always wrong, it's what makes markets, this large short position in the US dollar will turn and when it does it will run away and surprise all. There will be no hyperinflation.

Over the past decade, vast amounts of foreign debt has been issued in US dollars due to low US interest rates, as the dollar rises the ability to pay those debts will become more and more difficult, starting a positive feed back loop.

Foreign debt owed in dollars doesn't magically become not-dollars just because the value of the dollar changes.

Over the past decade, vast amounts of foreign debt has been issued in US dollars due to low US interest rates, as the dollar rises the ability to pay those debts will become more and more difficult, starting a positive feed back loop.

Foreign debt owed in dollars doesn't magically become not-dollars just because the value of the dollar changes.

If the value of the dollar rises relative to your currency and you must convert your currency to pay the debt in dollars, then you'll need more of your currency to make payments in dollars. This then puts upward pressure on the US dollar (increased demand), exasperating the problem. This has happened before with the housing market in Europe. Mortgages were issued in a foreign currency because interest rates in that currency is low and the currency is cheap relative to yours, but once the foreign currency began to rise in value you needed more of your currency to convert into the foreign currency for payments.